Have Cheetah,Will View – “Most Unlikely Cult Films??”

Someone asked me when is a review is considered a success by myself. While many sites much bigger then mine consider thousands of views per article to be the standard,the cheetah and I operate under a different kind of rules.
Because we are a personal blog,we aren’t that well known but we ARE getting there. The past three years have seen a steady increase in traffic which is amazing considering we don’t review the latest superhero releases or talk about upcoming blockbusters. As you can see,we prefer to stay in the weeds reviewing short films,indies from companies like Wild Eye,IFC Midnight and various other small studios. Because of this,the readership for each review varies….from 12 views for the stand-up documentary “Dying Laughing” and under 20 views for a whole slew of other films.
So with this in mind,my goal for each review is to hit 100 views….not a very high number is it? You would so but in fact only 39 of my reviews have passed that number. Is it discouraging? No,not really because I know the films/TV shows I’m writing about aren’t hugely popular or well known. I have to work very hard on promoting each review and as many know,I push some films like “Molly” and “A Dark Song” any chance I get because they are great films and I,like many other small critics/buffs,are trying to get them noticed.
But of course I’m caught by surprise when a film that I reviewed suddenly catches fire and does far better then I expected. I have had three films do that which is amazing because as a rule,the longer the review has been up,the less traffic tends to come by. For my older reviews,I have to rely on search engines,IMDb and once in a while someone will copy and share my review with a group of friends because of the sudden burst of activity I get on the post.

The first movie that I noticed was getting unexpectedly crazy traffic was my 52nd review.
It was a Lifetime movie that I had picked up from a Dollar Tree right after Lori had passed away. It was part of my white noise phase where I would put on a movie just for background noise. I must have played it 10-15 times before switching it out for something else.
“Her Best Fiend’s Husband” is the movie and it is wildly popular for some strange reason. Its a solid story,has a good cast and it is directed well. But is it a classic? It is Emmy award winning? Was it ground breaking in how the story was told? Nope,its just a made-for-TV movie and I reviewed it because I had watched and enjoyed two other Lifetime movies (I have to admit,those movies are pretty decent).
I posted my review in July of 2017 and the traffic was meh….it drew 47 views which was better then I thought it would do.
Then 2018 popped in and instead of slowly fading away,the views were actually steady.
Then they started to rise and I ended up with 85 views and yes,again I know its not a lot but when trend is to go down instead of up….and now in 2019,it has drawn 140 more views and in May it had its best month. Somewhere down the line,this film has gained a cult following somewhere. People are using search engines because I see some of the terms they use when they are looking for the movie. (You should see some of the terms used for “Summer of ’42”)

The other film,well…..I think I know part of the reason why its a huge cult favorite.
The film is a Hallmark Channel romance film called “A Country Wedding” and it the most popular movie the cheetah and I have reviewed in terms of views.
As with “Her Best Friend’s Husband”,its a solid movie….warm familiar plot,attractive cast and a happy ending. But that goes with EVERY Hallmark movie and yet “Country” is so much more popular,SO much more.
I reached to Ruth Hill (@RuthHill74),a huge Hallmark Channel fan on Twitter and I asked her why she felt “A Country Wedding” was so huge…
She replied “I would say “A Country Wedding”is so popular on the Hallmark Channel due to the amazing cast & chemistry of the leads @jessemetcalfe@autumnreeser I would say having some music in there also helps.”
I want to agree with that but I have reviewed another Jesse Metcalfe movie and it doesn’t come close to a “A Country Wedding” in terms of views. See,I know the secret to this movie’s cult status…..it’s that seriously awful wig that actress Laura Mennell was forced to wear as Jesse’s then girlfriend. How do I know this? Again,search engine terms and about 90% of the terms entered involve that crazy wig. Once that wig makes it first appearance,you’ll be hard pressed to turn your eyes away.
In the single year since I posted our review,we have gotten over 350 views alone on “A Country Wedding” and its popularity continues to grow.

All right then…..there you have it,the dude with the fearsome cheetah just felt like we wanted to share this with you. Not the most exciting post but definitely the weirdest,right?

I like to thank my Hallmark Channel expert Ruth Hill for her input.

Here is a challenge……you already know two of them but which other 37 reviews have made “The 100” list? Drop a guess below in the comment section!!

I’m not sure what you mean about the challenge, Michael. If you are just talking about Hallmark movies or what…Because I know you’ve posted more that thirty some odd reviews…Anyway, I really liked your Lawman series posts and Zombie Hunter. I don’t know about how many views those would get but I thought they were pretty great. I just like your site. The writing is solid and personal. Win. Win.

Yeah. I know. But I loved the Zombie Hunter post. It was funny. I know you’ve seen One False Move. That’s my favorite indie of all time–and one of my favorite movies of all time. Then there’s this one…what do they call Aussie independents? You know…They have a name for them…Anyway,,,It’s very violent. Brutal….”Wolf Creek.” The cinematography is gorgeous in that movie…Strange.

I have heard Wolf Creek is brutal…still looking for that one….I love Aussie films,if you get a chance look up “Mystery Road”,that was excellent as was “The Rover” and “Backtrack”.
Zombie Hunter will do well as I do a ton of indie horroe and its easy to promote the genre.

I love Mystery Road. It’s a slow burn–which I like–and then all hell breaks loose in the last 20 minutes. Brilliant film. Hounds of Love is a really good Aussie Indie. It’s a difficult watch, but it’s very well done. One of my first posts was on Hounds of Love. Highly recommend.

My buddy Catfish is always skeptical of the movies I turn him on to….until he sees them. He was buying a copy of “Mystery Road” 30 minutes into it!!! Its so much fun finding these quirky,underseen films and talking about them!
I will read your “Hounds of Love” post.

I think you have a niche that few are doing. Reviewing short films and independent ones give readers a place to look for something different. Some of the films you reviewed I never heard of but enjoyed because you gave them a voice. It’s hard to read the numbers as to why some posts get hits and others don’t. After awhile I stopped trying to figure it out. Whether you hit your goal or not, we appreciate the variety of films you select.

That’s a difficult question ’cause I can’t call titles up in my mind without a little help, lol !! Like I’d need to see a list and maybe could guess from the titles which ones……..?
But probably not, because I never would have thought something like the two above were so popular. I can’t figure out what the nexus is…..!

I so agree…I post reviews up that I think will be gang busters but hardly get anything and then other will slowly build as they find a audience.
Some films that are based around holidays will get a burst of traffic each year and thats always nice to see.